Hero's Welcome
by Sheilynn
Summary: FFA 194…BtVS & Death from the Incarnations of Immortality. Seeing Death’s face isn’t so bad.


Disclaimer: BtVS belongs to Whedon, et al., The Incarnations of Immortality series belongs to Piers Anthony.

A/N: Don't know why this "pairing" intrigued me so much…it's been a while since I read the books. Tissue warning for the beginning, but I hope I made up for it later on.

Summary: FFA #194…BtVS & Death from the Incarnations of Immortality. Seeing Death's face isn't so bad.

**Hero's Welcome**

He watched from a short distance away as the blonde woman prepared to breathe her last breath.

It was a shame, really. Her eyes still blazed with a fierce light, even in the onset of death. Slayers were strong people.

While he waited, he looked around at the scene of the finished battle, and was shocked to see the carcass of a demon from the 1st circle of Hell, definitely dead, next to the woman whose soul he was there to retrieve…he didn't think Satan had the power to allow one of his top minions access the mortal realm yet.

Shouldn't he have known about this? After all, he _was_ Death…and the appearance of _that_ powerful a demon should have triggered some alarms, as they generally preceded a deluge of souls, what with the multitude of carcasses they managed to leave in their wake.

This situation disturbed him, and he drew closer to the woman.

"So you've come for l'il ol' me again, have you?"

Death looked at the woman in surprise.

"Come on…it hasn't been _that_ long, has it?"

He looked closer at her, running his eyes over her form in hopes that it would give him _some_ clue as to what she was talking about – her words implied that they'd met before.

"Let me give you a clue, Death…a jump from a hundred foot tower into a really nasty, lightening-ridden, multi-demon-dimension portal, and me ending up on a pile of rubble, still looking pretty, but oh-so-dead."

Death's eyes widen (not that she could see it).

"You! But you've already died! How can…" he trailed off in shock.

"Got pulled out of the big 'H' without being asked…twice – long story…when I'm dead again, look me up wherever I end up, and I'll tell you about it. Second story's not as glamorous though, what with the demon guts all over the place."

The woman began coughing heavily, and a small amount of blood splattered on the hem of his cloak.

"Damn."

Death did something he didn't do often…pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing his true form to the young woman.

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," the woman said with a faint smile. "Hey…for death, you're kinda cute. Why hide it?"

"In truth? I'm as human as you are, the cloak makes me invincible…without it, I can be killed."

"Death dying…there's a concept. What's your real name?"

"Zane. You?"

"Buffy Summers…can't really say it's a pleasure to meet you, though. Sorry."

Zane smiled sadly at her.

"If it's any consolation, it won't be long now."

"I know…I can feel myself slipping away," Buffy replied quietly. "Would you…"

He waited for her to finish, but when he saw her hesitation, he pressed her to ask her question…or favor.

"What, Buffy…what do you want me to do?"

"Stay with me 'til the end…I don't want to die alone," she whispered, a tear slipping down her face.

"What about your friends…do you want me to get them for you? There's still time."

"No!...no…they're too busy fighting the rest of the hordes on the other side of the hill. Pulling them away might cause more people to die," she stated firmly before swallowing a sob as she continued, "And…and…I don't want them to see me like this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Not caring that the snow-filled area around her was oozing with demon blood, Zane sat next to her and picked up one of her hands. He held on to it, silently listening as her breath became more and more labored.

"I have two children, you know. One of each."

Zane gave her a confused look.

"Slayers aren't supposed to have families…at least, that's how it used to be."

"I'm happy for you then."

"Yeah…me too," Buffy said before coughing roughly again. When she caught her breath as best she could, she continued, "They're my legacy…not many Slayers got to have that before, since they usually died within a year or two of being Called."

"How long have you been Slaying?"

"28 years…the oldest one to date!" she exclaimed proudly, if weakly.

"Congratulations…I think…"

Buffy chuckled wetly, the blood in her lungs moistening her breath.

"It hasn't been too bad…at least not since we activated all the Potentials 20 years ago."

"Another story?"

She nodded her head slowly before taking a deep, bone-rattling breath.

"It's almost time…do me another favor? Tell my friends…'we were the best', and that I love them."

"You got it."

"…but to leave me at peace this time."

Zane drew in a shocked breath.

Buffy chuckled softly. "Told you it was a long story."

He let it go at that, and sat quietly next to her as the young woman's breath slowed.

Her voice slurred, "You know…I used to fear Death…but now that I saw your true face…I'm OK with it. See you on the other side, Zane."

And with a last exhale, Buffy Summers was gone.

Zane reached into her cooling body, and gently pulled out her soul…and had the shock of his life –

It was the purest of white.

"I guess we know where _you're_ going, Buffy," he whispered with a gentle smile.

A loud ruckus drew his attention away from the soul in his hands, and his head whipped around to where the sound came from. Several people were just topping the hill, and madly scrambling down to its base.

Zane pulled his hood on as he stepped back into the shadows, and sadly watched as the large group of people began to wail at the death of their hero. He held Buffy's soul close to his chest.

When the sounds finally died down to only sobbing, Death gathered up his courage to fulfill the promise he made…and stepped into view…

…and faced several weapons pointed in his direction.

Though he knew he was invincible while in his cloak, it still made him a little nervous at being the center of attention to so many sharp objects. He held up a hand.

"What are you doing here, Death?!" an old British man spat at him.

A red-head tugged at his arm frantically, "Giles! Giles!! He has her soul! I can still feel it! Make him give it back…I-I can fix her! I know I can, Giles!!"

"STOP!" Death yelled, his hissing bellow causing the humans to shiver at an unseen chill.

Giles hesitantly stepped forward, "If you have her soul, Death, return it to us and be gone."

Death continued to hold Buffy's soul to his chest, knowing that her body was too damaged, and too far gone for it to return, no matter _how_ much the red-head believed she could fix it. And it was Buffy's time, or he wouldn't be here.

"I have a message for you, if you would listen," he said, regretting that he had to use his 'Death' voice. But until he was sure that they weren't going to try and kill him, he was staying cloaked.

Giles gave him a hard look, wishing he could make out…Death's…features. Unfortunately, he couldn't.

"No harm will come to you and your friends, Giles," Death said as gently as he could. "I only wish to pass on a message from Buffy."

The British man sharply waved for the others to drop their weapons.

As soon as there were no sharp objects pointed in his direction, Death reached up and removed his hood.

The group of people gasped.

"Y-you're _human_!" Giles stuttered.

"Yes. I feel it's only right that I speak to you with the same face Buffy received her promise from. My name is Zane, and I'm the latest incarnation of Death," he said quietly.

"Latest _incarnation_?"

That sounded familiar to Giles.

"Yes, but that's a long story, and now is not the time to tell it."

"O-of course…please continue."

"In her last words, she said, 'Tell my friends 'we were the best', and that I love them, but…'" Zane was interrupted before he could finish.

"And we love her too! We need her! Give me her soul, dammit! I can fix her!" Willow yelled through her tears as she approached him, her body beginning to glow with a bright light. She raised her hand to grab for the soul she knew was clutched to his chest.

Zane whipped up his hood and punched his (Death's) hand into the red-head's chest. He gripped her own soul and squeezed.

"You may be a powerful witch, Willow Rosenburg, but don't _screw_ with Death…you still fall under my domain!" he hissed.

He squeezed her soul one more time before removing his hand, and watched as she fell to the ground clutching her chest.

"She said you were the best, and that she loved you …" Zane whipped the hood off his head and gave the group an angry look. "…but asked that you leave her at peace this time."

There were several sobs at his words.

"B-but she's still here…s-she hasn't gone to that peace yet," Giles stuttered.

"But she will."

Zane held out Buffy's soul for them to see, carefully to keep it out of reach.

"The only souls I've seen before were various shades of grey, Giles, sometimes with spots of black – the darker the grey, and the more black spots, the more likely they'll go south. Where do you think a soul of pure white is destined to go? Will you deny her that?"

"But…"

"Her body is beyond repair, no matter how much magic you would use to try and fix it…do you wish to return her to a broken vessel?" Zane asked sadly.

"No," Giles answered softly, regretfully. "Take her to her peace, Zane…she deserves it, and has been denied it for too long."

Zane nodded, and went to pull up his hood, but stopped when he noticed they had been joined by several other figures…ones who had no reason to be there.

"What are all of _you_ doing here?!" he blurted out.

Buffy's friends whirled around, raising their weapons in defense.

A female dressed in green stepped forward.

"Be at peace, Mr. Giles. We are not here to cause harm," the woman said with a gentle smile.

"So _you_ say," an evil looking man chuckled.

"Shut up, Lucifer!" a pretty young woman said before kicking him in the shin.

"Ow! Why you little…"

At hearing just _who_ the evil looking man was, the humans all trained their weapons on him.

"Lucifer, Clotho…desist at once!" the woman in green gave them a firm look.

"Yes, Mother," the two said, chastised.

"Please, Mr. Giles…lower your weapons. Regardless of _who_ he is, Lucifer is not here to harm anyone either…I give you my word as Orb, otherwise known as the Green Mother, the Incarnation of Nature."

Giles gasped.

"My word…so the myth _is _true – seven of the greatest Incarnations are all…_human_," he said in awe. Turning around and pointing at each of the figures, he said, "Time, also known as Chronos; War, Mars; Nature, the Green Mother; Evil, Lucifer; Fate; Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (Fate changed to each form as she was named, Atropos snipping her scissors in Lucifer's direction with a look of malice on her face); and Death, no other name."

"That is correct, Mr. Giles," the Green Mother said with a pleased smile.

"I assume there is also an Incarnation of Good?" Giles asked with a look of apprehension. "Why isn't he here?"

"Because he is waiting to greet _her_." Nature pointed at the soul Death held close to his chest again.

The group of humans gasped.

"That still doesn't explain why _you're_ here, good Mother," Zane said, lifting an eyebrow.

"It has been a millennia since a soul so pure has passed on…we are here to be her honor guard on her journey to the Pearly Gates."

The group of humans gasped again, and Zane vaguely wondered how many more gasps it would take to make them explode from too much air intake.

"_All_ of us?" Zane looked askance at Lucifer.

"I may be the Incarnation of Evil, Death, but even _I_ have respect for a pure soul," Lucifer said solemnly.

Zane looked at him in surprise.

The evil-looking man smirked at him. "Can I touch it?"

"NO!" everyone shouted, incarnation and human alike.

Lucifer chuckled.

"Let's go, Death…God waits for no man!" Evil said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them until a flame appeared.

"But he'll wait for a woman!" Atropos cackled, snipping her scissors sharply in front of his face before turning away, and taking her place in the lines being created by the others (minus Death).

Zane took his place at the tail end.

"Zane?" Giles called out softly.

"Yes, Giles?"

"Tell her we love her too."

He gave the old man a smile, and nodded his head.

"And that she better have a rockin' party for us when we meet again," Xander said, voice gruff with tears.

"I'm sure she will," Zane chuckled before he pulled up the hood and became Death again.

The group of humans stepped back as various forms of transportation began to appear, and watched as Death mounted his pale horse. He saluted them before turning forwards, holding out the shining soul of one Buffy Summers.

"Honor Guard…let's go!!"

The group of humans knew they would never see another sight such as this…six Incarnations escorting a soul to Heaven, with Satan leading, and Death following.

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Death solemnly walked to the front of the Pearly Gates, and gently set Buffy's soul on the golden path that led to, and past the gates. He stepped back, and watched as her soul glowed and grew, eventually stopping when her humanly form took shape.

The surprising thing was…she looked like she was in her early twenties again, and glowed with a golden warmth.

There was a peaceful smile on her face as she let the glow of Heaven wash over her features, her eyes closed as she soaked it in.

He had never seen such a beautiful sight, and wondered if this was what it was like for all the souls that arrived here.

Buffy turned her head in Death's direction.

"Thank you Zane."

Death removed his hood and smiled brightly at the woman.

"You're most welcome Buffy…they love you too, you know."

"I know."

"I guess this is 'good-bye' for now…I hope you'll be very happy."

"I will be, Zane." Buffy leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Good-bye…I hope I don't see you again too soon."

Zane laughed.

Just as she was about to turn and enter the now open gates, Zane remembered the other part of the message.

"Oh! Buffy! I almost forgot! Xander wanted me to tell you something. And I quote, 'you better have a rockin' party for them when you meet again'."

Buffy laughed.

"I'll make sure of it. And, hey, Zane…do me another favor…"

"What's that?"

"When it's Xander's time, escort him here and throw him through the Gate…he'd get a kick out of being the first person to be tossed _into_ Heaven."

Zane cracked up at that thought. Wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes, he replied, "I'll see what I can do, Buffy."

She smiled at him before turning to walk towards the gates.

The moment she stepped past them, a pair of wings appeared on her back. Taking one last look at Death, in the form of Zane, she smiled and disappeared into the clouds.

The Pearly Gates closed behind her.

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It was a surreal experience for Buffy as she walked down the golden path.

Every other soul she saw knelt and bowed their heads to her.

It was confusing.

She wasn't _God_, after all.

Shrugging her shoulders, she continued down the path, finally reaching the last hill. As she reached the top, she looked down at the palace in the valley.

_"Xander and Willow are gonna get a **kick** out of the fact that God's residence looks like the city of OZ…only white…with glitter,"_ she thought with a giggle.

A thrill of excitement went through her as she quickened her pace.

It wasn't far, but it did give her enough time to wonder why she was given Heaven's version of the Vulcan Mind-Meld when she was pulled back to Earth the last time.

_"Without form, my ass…I had a good form! I **liked**__ my form! And what's this about only knowing that everyone was alright…I knew **everything** they were doing. I'm gonna have to have a little **chat **with Mr. **GOD** about that!"_

And then she was **there**.

And so was **He**.

Her face lit up with the biggest smile ever, and she broke into a run.

And **He** stood there, with his arms open in, his smile just as big as hers.

She threw herself into his arms, relishing the warmth and strength of his embrace.

He buried his face in her hair and whispered, "Welcome home, Buffy."

Buffy let herself have a moment to just soak it all in before drawing back to look at his face.

"Did you miss me?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

He spun her in his arms and dipped her as he planted a deep kiss on her smiling lips.

Finally letter her up for air (not that angels need it), he smirked, "Very, _very_ much!"

Buffy smiled and stroked his cheek.

"I missed you too."

"Come on…your Mom's waiting to see you," he said as he looped his arm around her shoulder, and guided her to the private entrance behind his throne.

"Oh! I can't wait to tell her about everything…but she's probably seen it all," Buffy pouted, before a frown crossed her face as she remembered something. "Oh, hey…what was with all the genuflecting and head bowing on my way here? I was beginning to think you turned over the title of 'God' to _me_."

"Oh…that," he said with an uncomfortable laugh, "Well…um…_everyone_ has been watching you since you were taken from here for the _second_ time. They were giving you a 'Hero's Welcome' for your return."

Buffy blushed.

"And before you say anything, you deserved it. We all saw what you've been up against for the past 15 years…and everyone is pretty much in _awe_ that it took a demon from the 1st circle of Hell to defeat you," he said as he squeezed her shoulder. He got a far away look on his face before muttering, "I'm gonna have to find out how that happened…Satan wasn't too pleased about it, so I don't think he was behind it."

"Enough of the demon talk! I want smoochies…and my mom…but maybe I should see mom before we start any lip-locking. I've _missed_ you, if you know what I mean."

He blushed.

"Well…um…I think Satan has too…he said I wasn't racking up enough Sin points for his satisfaction."

"What?! He's upset because God ain't getting' some?" Buffy snickered.

He poked her in the side…several times.

"Daniel! Stop that!" she giggled.

He pulled her close and kissed her on top of her head.

She looked up with a smile, which quickly turned into a frown.

"Why are you still wearing those? You're _God_…you don't _have_ bad vision anymore!"

Daniel blushed, removing the glasses and turned them over in his hands.

"It reminds me of our time together on Earth…you know, you pushing them up my nose, removing them when they got in your way, and my personal favorite…fogging them up when you got me so hot."

Buffy laughed, then removed them from his hands and placing them back on his face.

"You should probably keep them on for a while…Jack wouldn't recognize you without them. Oh…um…he isn't here yet, right? Last time I checked, he and Sam were still goin' at it like Bunnies in that cabin of theirs."

"No, he's not here yet…but he will be, soon. I'm gonna hate that…he and Sam should have had more time…"

"Just like we should have," Buffy stroked his face again, and gave him a sad smile. "At least they got together soon enough to have a couple of kids too."

"Yeah."

Shaking herself from her melancholy, Buffy firmly said, "Enough of that! Even if Jack shows up tomorrow, he and Sam will be together again eventually. You know that. And, hey!...he's gonna get such a big kick outta the fact that you're GOD. He's probably gonna go around telling everyone that he knew you when you were _alive_."

"Not if he knows what's good for him!" Daniel scowled.

"He knows a lot more than you give him credit for, honey…after all, _who_ told you not to touch the doohickey with the glowing lights _fifty million times_?!"

"Point taken."

"And _you_, taken away…in a body bag," she poked him in the chest, hard. "And then someone had to go and have their soul stopped at the Pearly Gates _(poke)_, taken back and stuck in their body _(poke)_, brought back to life _(poke)_, only to be taken back to Heaven to play GOD of all things _(poke)_.

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you," he said, rubbing his chest.

"No."

Daniel sighed.

"Come on, Dr. Jackson…my mom awaits. And you need to tell me how Judge Scott is enjoying his retirement, and if they finished building the toboggan run on those citrus clouds."

Sighing again, he followed his wife's energetic form.

Only one person wore the pants in _his_ family.

At it wasn't him.

God.

Whatever.

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Gee…how did Stargate end up in this? Sorry, couldn't resist writing Daniel in as "God", what with him having gone through that Ascension thingy – I thought it was fitting. LOL

Besides, I didn't want to end the story on a sad note.

I hope no one gets pissed about "God" being a human…that's how Piers Anthony wrote it, and I'm just following suit.

I hope you enjoyed!!

Please Review!!!


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